The AAMC's own official materials are non-negotiable: the full-length practice exams, section banks, and official question packs. They're the closest thing available to the real exam's style, difficulty, and passage structure, and nothing else fully replicates that.
Beyond the official materials, most of us combined a content review series, a large third-party question bank like UWorld, and a spaced-repetition flashcard deck like MileDown or Anki. A formal course is worth the cost specifically if you need externally imposed structure or accountability — it isn't magic, and it won't substitute for doing the practice volume yourself. If self-study alone hasn't gotten your full-length scores moving, a tutor at the right tier is usually a more targeted fix than switching to yet another course or question bank. If you want a lower-commitment starting point first, our free study guide and practice newsletter cover the same ground in smaller doses.